Pharmacy specialists’ attitudes toward pharmaceutical service quality at community pharmacies

Gvidas Urbonas¹, Irayda Jakušovaitė¹, Arūnas Savickas²

¹Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Medical Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, ²Department of Drug Technology and Social Pharmacy, Medical Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Lithuania

Key words: pharmaceutical services; service quality; pharmacy specialists’ attitudes; community pharmacy.

Summary. Objective. The main objective of this study was to analyze pharmacy specialists’ attitudes toward the quality of pharmaceutical services at Lithuanian community pharmacies.

Material and methods. Between April and June 2009, a total of 471 Lithuanian community pharmacy specialists completed a questionnaire designed to evaluate their attitudes toward the quality of pharmaceutical services at community pharmacies. The main dimensions of pharmaceutical service quality were extracted by principal component analysis.

Results. Two main dimensions of pharmaceutical service quality were extracted: pharmacotherapeutic aspects (provision of information about drug therapy, possible side effects, health promotion, the amount of time spent with a patient, and the ascertainment that a patient understood the provided information) and socioeconomic aspects (considering patient’s needs and financial capabilities, making a patient confident with the services provided). Pharmacy specialists evaluated the quality of both dimensions positively, but the quality of the first dimension was rated significantly worse than that of the second dimension. The attitudes of pharmacy specialists working at independent pharmacies were more positive toward pharmacotherapeutic aspects as compared to the specialists working at chain or state pharmacies. Pharmacotherapeutic aspects were rated better by pharmacy specialists, aged ≥55 years, than those younger than 45 years. Moreover, the attitudes of 45–54-year-old pharmacy specialists toward the socioeconomic aspects were more positive as compared with those of 35–44-year olds. Pharmacists rated the socioeconomic aspects of pharmaceutical service quality worse as compared with pharmacy technicians. The attitudes of pharmacy specialists working at pharmacies with 6–9 specialists were more negative toward pharmacotherapeutic aspects than those of the pharmacies with 1–2 specialists. Pharmacy specialists working at pharmacies with ≥10 specialists reported lower scores of socioeconomic aspects as compared to those working at pharmacies with fewer specialists. Men evaluated both pharmacotherapeutic and socioeconomic aspects worse than women. The evaluation of pharmaceutical service quality did not differ by pharmacy location.

Conclusions. Two dimensions of pharmaceutical service quality were determined. According to Lithuanian pharmacy specialists, the quality of pharmacotherapeutic aspects at community pharmacies was worse than that of socioeconomic aspects. The evaluation of the quality of pharmaceutical service significantly differed according to the specialists’ sex, age, qualification, and type and size of pharmacies.

Correspondence to G. Urbonas, Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Medical Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, A. Mickevičiaus 9, 44307 Kaunas, Lithuania. E-mail: gvidas.urbonas@gmail.com

Received 10 July 2009, accepted 5 October 2010